The Merger

Chapter 2

I scoff as soon as Talia walks out of the restaurant. I can practically hear the mental insults she's hurling at me and the schemes she's cooking up. Would she go back to Colin and talk shit about me? I wouldn't put it past her. That's the Talia specialty.

"What's up, dude?" The sound of Kyle's voice interrupts my thoughts.

"What?" I blink a few times looking at my best friend and VP seated across from me. The other two people at my table are my cousin Noah and long-time friend Chance. Both turn to listen in on the conversation.

"Who's that chick?" Kyle asks with a hint of amusement in his voice and nods toward the entrance behind me.

"No one." I pause for a moment and shift in my seat. "Actually, a pain in the ass."

A full smile plants itself on Kyle's mouth and I brace myself for the interrogation. "Are you sure about that? I'm pretty sure I saw you staring at her ass."

I laugh as if it's the furthest thing from the truth. Okay, maybe I was looking in that general vicinity for a split millisecond, but I'm not about to admit that to anyone. "No, I wasn't."

"Dude." Chance leans in and grabs a fry on his plate. "You totally want to get with that."

I scrunch my face. "No, I don't."

"Who is she? Maybe I can woo her. She is very beautiful," Noah says.

"Woo? Noah, you need to stop talking like you're a seventy-year-old trying to find a wife." Chance turns to my cousin who's sitting across from him before looking back at me. "Okay but seriously, is she single? She's fuckin' hot."

For some reason, the thought of any of my friends dating Talia is giving me a migraine. This conversation needs to end soon. "Guys stop. That's Talia. The Talia I told you about before," I huff.

They look as if they're trying to recall who Talia is and then recognition lights up Kyle's features. "Ohhhh, that Talia?"

I nod and take a sip of my water to clear my throat.

"Okay, this is interesting." Kyle leans back in his seat and strokes a non-existent beard. "I mean, are you sure that was Talia? The Talia that was just here looked like an angel sent down from heaven to bless our eyes."

"Wait! Which Talia? I don't remember," Noah says before taking a bite of his sandwich.

A sigh escapes me before I jerk my head around, making sure no one is eavesdropping. "Can we please stop saying Talia?" I poke at my food, my appetite all of a sudden gone. "She's the girl I knew at Harvard who screwed me over on that one internship I got junior year."

"An internship a hundred years ago and you're still mad about it?" Chance says with a mouth full of food.

"That was just the start. For the past ten years, she's made it her mission to steal every client under the sun from me. And she just thinks she's the best and is smarter than me." I cross my arms and lean back in my seat.